Patent GB-726870-A (GB)
Title: Statistical record card apparatus
IPC: G06K13/08
Filed: 1953-06-05
Abstract: 726,870. Statistical apparatus. STANDARD TELEPHONES & CABLES, Ltd. June 5, 1953 [Sept. 4,1952], No. 15566/53. Class 106 (1). A record card magazine and feeding apparatus comprises a support, a reading and recording head, a movable tray adapted to hold a stack of cards, guide means in the support, adjacent the reading and recording heads, adapted to receive the tray, means attached to the support and controlled by relative movement between the tray and support for removing a stack of cards from the tray and feeding them in succession past the reading and recording heads, and means for replacing the cards in the tray after they have passed the reading and recording heads. A stack of cards 22, Figs. 1, 4, are contained in a tray 21, Figs. 1, 4, 5. Adapted to receive the tray there is provided a guide means 20 within which is located a member 30 provided with idler rollers 35 rotatably mounted and embedded within the member. The member 30 is engaged within a slot 25 extending across the front of the tray 21 and as the tray advances ramps 29 formed on the members 28 in the tray cause the leading edge of the member 30 to ride up the ramp edges. As the member 30 is raised by the ramps it engages the stack of cards and lifts the stack up into alignment with the gap 11 between the reading and recording head cores 10 and rollers 13 provided for traversing the cards through the gap 11 past the heads 9. Fig. 2 shows the rollers 13 driven by a gear train 16, 17, the arrangement being such that when the member 30 is raised into alignment with the gap 11 a gear 39 on shaft 38 engages with a driven idler gear 17 and causes the leading roller 37 of member 30 to rotate, thus driving the lowermost card of the pack forward continuously. A solenoid co-operating with a portion of the member 30 is positioned so that when the member 30 is raised by the ramps 29 the solenoid gives an additional lift to position the member 30 accurately regardless of variations in the height of different trays and their ramps. 29. After the cards have passed the reading and recording heads they are deflected downwards by a deflector 46 and fall back into the position on the tray 21 which they originally occupied. The driving rollers 13 are constructed with reduced diameter at 14 so that the cards are driven at the edges only. The rollers are driven by an electric motor 18 via a belt 19 and pulley 19a. The card feed table beneath the cores 10 of the heads 9 contains air passages 45 communicating with a conduit 31 to which an air supply line 44 is connected. The air supply at the passages 45 ensures that the cards are held at the correct distance from the cores 10. Ball bearings 12 are located between the heads to prevent the cards actually coming into contact with the heads and assist in maintaining correct clearance between the surface of the card and the cores. In the apparatus so far described, the trays containing stacks of cards may be inserted in, and withdrawn from, the apparatus by hand, the apparatus shown in Fig. 8 may, however, be employed in conjunction with the apparatus described in the present invention to enable a plurality of trays to be automatically handled.